ONE OF THE MOST OVER-USED TERMS IN OUR INDUSTRY IN 2009 HAS BEEN "CRISIS."
There is no doubt that we experienced a crisis—suffering the effects of poor storytelling on our side and political opportunism from government and media pulpits. That crisis has left personal and professional casualties that we are endeavoring as an industry to heal and will continue to do so for some time.
But increasingly, what I believe our industry is now struggling to come to grips with is not crisis but shift—a shift in the natural business life cycle of our industry, the likes of which we have never had to deal with.
Consider that for the last three to five years our industry has thrived with annual double-digit growth, the result of unprecedented economic growth from new businesses in emerging economies. This includes hundreds of billion dollars in new meeting/event infrastructure worldwide. Universities began carrying meeting and event management curriculum. Our own membership grew more than 20 percent. We were busy climbing our own stairway to heaven.
But all that glitters is not always gold. There was shift going on around us, and the change inside our industry did not keep pace with what was about to happen in the rest of the world because business was so good. As recent as a year ago, our Business Barometer reported that the majority of members expected continued business growth. Shift happened for all the reasons we know, and now we have an opportunity to create a new beginning for the next growth cycle.
So what does SHIFT look like in the meeting and event industry?
We will become focused on business performance and not just the business of hospitality. In fact, one of the biggest shifts will be professionally aligning ourselves with learning professionals and communication designers. Our value proposition will increase as a result. Our own MPI Foundation EventView study has been saying for years that meetings and events drive results. Opportunity knocks.
Sustainability is here to stay. Even in dire economic conditions, businesses and governments are unwavering in their commitment to green because it’s good for business. Organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council are experiencing record attendance (live and virtual) at their events. Organizations and destinations that do not meet expectations and standards for sustainability will not be successful. And the meeting professional will play the pivotal role in translating policy into business and destination activation.
Communities will look beyond commercial revenues to measure their meeting and event industry success. They will also look to profit from the intellectual capital created and left behind from the gatherings of researchers, scientists, financiers and teachers that come together in a destination to make it better. This is how and where meetings and events change worlds. And what meeting professional does not want to be part of making a difference?
Technology is part of our shift, and the fusion of social networking technology with meetings will only enhance the value propositions of both platforms. Richard Florida, writing in Who’s Your City? offers the value of how shift in our industry will make a difference: “Ideas flow more freely, are honed more sharply and can be put into practice more quickly when innovators, implementers and financial backers are in constant contact with one another in and outside of work.”
Shift is not to be feared. Now is our greatest opportunity yet to align our focus and our story around the very beginning of the next great business cycle of our world.
BRUCE MACMILLAN, CA, is president and CEO of MPI. He can be reached at bmacmillan@mpiweb.org. Follow him at www.twitter.com/BMACMPI.